Almost like clockwork, Yasmani Grandal gets overlooked each year despite his ability to remain a top-five player at his position. Somehow, his move to Milwaukee did not move his draft stock higher in 2019 and his new home in Chicago with the White Sox may keep his cost reasonable as well for the year ahead. However, only once since 2014 has Grandal not recorded at least a double digit walk percentage in the major leagues. Last season, Grandal finished in the top one percent of the league with a 17.2 walk rate. His on-base percentage soared to 38 percent as a result.

Noting Grandal’s worth as a catcher in fantasy cannot be underscored. He appeared in 153 games with 124 starts at catcher, the most demanding position in baseball. Grandal launched a career high 28 home runs and ranked second in the National League with 109 walks. In games as a catcher, Grandal ranks in the majors as follows:

  • Walks - 91, first
  • On-base percentage - .383, first
  • Extra-base hits - 50, second
  • Total bases - 215, second
  • Runs - 68, tied for second
  • Home runs - 25, third
  • On-base plus slugging percentage - .864, third

For the year, Grandal scored 79 runs with 28 home runs, 77 RBI, five steals and a .246/.380/.468 slash line. Over the last three years, Grandal’s made 1,391 at-bats with 194 runs, 74 home runs, 203 RBI and a .244 average with an on-base percentage just below 35 percent. Noting Grandal’s a switch hitter, here’s all of his line drives and fly balls from the last three seasons with Guaranteed Field as the backdrop:

According to Statcast, Grandal finished with his highest average exit velocity of 90.3 MPH last season. He recorded 43 barrels of his 379 batted ball events and also finished with a 41.8 hard hit percentage. Of course, the batting environment provided in 2019 will make projections difficult, but Grandal does stand out among his peers.

Fueled by a career best 22.9 line drive percentage last year, his average could see some regression towards his Steamer projection of .239/.357/.458 in 135 games. In the last three years, Grandal’s averaged a home run every 18.8 at-bats. Ignoring the fact Grandal could hit fourth in an improving lineup will be a mistake. As a group, the White Sox fourth hitters accrued 622 at-bats scoring 84 runs with 26 home runs and 85 RBI with a .232/.299/.413 slash. Less than inspiring. Given Grandal’s ability to draw walks and get on base, he immediately upgrades the spot in the batting order.

Chicago can also mitigate erosion of his average providing more at-bats as a designated hitter than at catcher. Being the American League provides Grandal this opportunity. Especially with the breakout by James McCann last season. Although Grandal will be switching leagues, potentially moving into the cleanup spot in the lineup should buffer it with a bump in counting statistics. A question will lie in what the effect will be on his batting average, here’s his zone profiles from Statcast:

There’s a price to pay in order to secure a top catcher in fantasy. Yasmani Grandal should be worth it due to his new home in a burgeoning lineup in a weak division. His ability to get on-base and drive in runs will insure his fantasy value. If Grandal can hit .245 or better with 25-plus home runs and 80 RBI, then things get really interesting. It’s all relative to cost but Grandal’s a pretty stable stock for 2020.

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Statistical Credits:

Fangraphs.com

BaseballSavant.com

MLB.com

Steamerprojections.com